Bevebsible brake-beam



v M. F. cox. REVERSIBLE BRAKE BEAM FULCRUM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5, 1919.

1 08,046. Patented July 1, 1919.

MILLArm'ncoX, or LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

REVERSIBLE BRAKE-BEAM FULCRUM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July i, 1919.

Application filed Apri15, 1919. Serial No. 287,883.

fl) all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I,MILLA1':D F. Cox, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, inthe county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reversible Brake-Beam Fulcrums, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to reversible brake beam fulcrums.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple, durable and practical reversible brake beam fulcrum, the parts of which cooperate to meet the requirements for successful operation.

This and other objects are accomplished by means of the arrangement disclosed by the accompanying sheet of drawings in which Figure 1 is a top plan View of my fulcrum,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, and

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the fulcrum showing the means for holding the brake lever in operative position.

The various novel features of my invention will. be apparent from the following description and drawings and will be par ticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the figures of the drawings, it will be noted that I have shown a reversible fulcrum including a post 10, the base of which is provided with apertured flanges 11, whereby the same may be secured to a compression member, the opposite end of the fulcrum being provided with the usual tension rod seat 12.

As is well known, the brake arrangement on the average freight car truck is such, in reference to the ingularity of the brake lever passing through the brake beam fulcrum, that for each four wheel'freight car truck it takes one right hand beam and one left hand beam, 01', two right hand beams and two left hand beams per car. The dif ference in the right and left hand beams is wholly in the angularity of the lever eX- tending through the brake beam fulcrum. The angularity of the brake lever from the vertical is 10 degrees; one lever leans 40 degrees to the left and the lever on another brake beamleans 40 degrees to the right. If this angularity were 15 degrees, it would simplify a reversible fulcrum slightly, as the two slots in that case through the same fulcrum would be at right angles to each other, but only being at an angle of 40 degrees froin the vertical makes the total angularity between the-two slots only 80 degrees.

In making ny fulcrum reversible for the use of brake levers leaning to the right and to the left, I have provided the fulcrum with two slots 13 and 1-1 which are at an 80 degree angle with respect to each other, said slots forming four corner members 15, or, in other words, the middle portion of the fulcrum is a skeleton work in which there are four corner members 15. Each of these corner members is provided with oppositely arranged longitudinally alined shoulders 16, some of which extend through an angle of substantially 80. degrees and others of which extend substantially through an angle of 100 degrees around the outer surface of the corner members. For supporting the brake lever 17 in operative position within either of the slots, a pin 18 is extended through the other one of the slots 13 or 14 depending upon whether the lever is to lean to the left or to the right, said pin passing through an opening 19 in the lever. The pin is provided with a squared head which is received between the cooperating shoulder members 16 on each of the adjacent corner members 15, thereby preventing slid-- ing movement of the pin longitudinally of the slots. On the opposite end of the pin there is a removable member 21 preferably square which is interposed between the shoulders 15 at the opposite end of the slot for assisting the head 20 in holding the brake lever 17 in operative position. A key 22 may be inserted through an aperture in the end of the pin 18 for holding the member 21 in place. It is readily apparent that if it is desired to have the brake lever incline in the opposite direction from that shown in Fig. 3, the same may be accomplished by merely withdrawing the pin and inserting the brake lever 17 through the other slot whereupon the pin 18 may be inserted in another slot for securing the brake lever in place. In other words, the positions of the brake lever 17 and the holding pin 18 may be reversed. It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention falling within the spirit and scope of the following'claims.

I claim:

1. A reversible brake beam fulcrum including a post slotted in different directions to form four corner members, oppositely arranged longitudinally alined shoulders on each of said corner members, a pivot pin for a brake lever receivable transversely in either of said slots, said pin being provided With means for engaging said shoulders for holding the pin and brake lever in operative position.

2. A reversible brake beam fulcrum including a post slotted in different directions to form four corner members, oppositely arranged longitudinally aline d shoulder members on; each side of said corner members and being on the outer sides of said corner members, a pivot pin for a brake lever receivable transversely in either of said slots, said pin at each end being provided With means for engaging said shoulders for holding the pin and brake lever in operative position said pin and the brake lever being interchangeably received by the slots in said fulcrum.

fsigned at Louisville, Kentucky, this 10th day of March, 1919.

MILLARD F. COX.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

